Gophers women top Ohio State, continue their rise

Former Minneapolis South star and Ohio State guard Tayler Hill drives on Minnesota's Shayne Mullaney in the first half Thursday night. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Ohio State has been the model program for everyone, including Minnesota, in Big Ten women's basketball. The Buckeyes won or shared six straight Big Ten titles from 2003-10 and have made the NCAA tournament 10 consecutive times.

That's a streak that could come to an end this year, even with Minneapolis native and Big Ten leading scorer Tayler Hill leading the way, but that didn't matter to the Gophers on Thursday, Jan. 10. They took a lot of pride in beating Ohio State for the second straight season at home, 83-74, in front of 3,369 at Williams Arena.

Sophomore Rachel Banham and junior Micaella Riche combined for 44 points for Minnesota (13-4, 2-1), which won consecutive games against the Buckeyes for the first time since 1981. IThe Gophers' 76-65 victory last season broke a four-game losing streak in the series.

"They're a great team with a great history," Gophers coach Pam Borton said. "They have great players. They've got a lot of high school All-Americans on the bench. Tayler Hill is a very special player as well. They're well coached. They're a program that wants to win.

"But we're playing great basketball right now, and the best is yet to come because we're not even close to peaking."

Borton is more confident than ever her team can get back into the NCAA tournament after a three-year hiatus. The Buckeyes (10-6, 0-3) are among five or six teams in the middle of the Big Ten pack that could get in the Gophers' way, another reason Thursday's victory was important.

Advertisement

Penn State and Purdue are the Big Ten's only nationally ranked teams, so there's a great opportunity for Borton's team to challenge teams such as Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and Nebraska for a move into the league's upper half. The Gophers haven't finished higher than eighth since 2008-09, but it could be different this season if they can win most of their home games.

The inside-outside tandem of Banham and Riche combined for 26 points in the first half, including 10-for-10 shooting from the free-throw line, as the Gophers took a 50-31 lead. Banham had more points (16) in the first half than she did in the entire game at Wisconsin on Sunday, when she was 0 for 10 from the field in a Minnesota victory.

The Gophers got 33 points and 16 rebounds combined from the frontcourt of Riche and Kionna Kellogg.

The Buckeyes got within striking distance in the second half when Hill followed up a three-point play with a floater to cut Minnesota's lead to 80-72 with 1:20 remaining. But Banham drove the lane and answered with a scoop shot while being fouled. She converted the three-point play to make it an 11-point margin with less than 30 seconds left.

Hill, who equaled Banham's output with 24 points, almost missed her last game in her hometown because she was suffering from strep throat, according to Ohio State coach Jim Foster. Once heavily recruited by Borton out of Minneapolis South High, Hill decided to play for the Buckeyes, who were the best in the Big Ten at the time.

They clearly aren't anymore. But Thursday's win was meaningful for the Gophers, no matter which Buckeyes team stepped onto the floor.

"It's a big confidence booster, just because like coach said, it's Ohio State," Riche said. "They're a big program. They're a great team. It shows we can get it done."